As the "inventor" of Art Karlsruhe and its curator, Ewald Schrade succeeded in creating a fair that steadily gained attention and importance. With the 20th edition, 207 gallery owners from 15 countries are now bidding farewell to the fair's founder as someone who, himself a gallery owner, knows the concerns of the industry and served them in friendly dealings. In his honour, a special exhibition in Hall 1 will provide an insight into Schrade's private collection, some of whose artists coincide with those of his exhibition stand. Above all, Walter Stöhrer's expressive, gestural celebrations of color sparkle here and there. A trademark that Schrade gave to the fair are more than 20 sculpture places in the halls; this time, Galerie Reitz (Cologne/Zurich) is setting up a mighty bronze "Guardian" by Jörg Immendorff (245,000 euros) in the midst of other martial journeymen. Fahar Al-Salih's installation "Cage", presented by Yvonne Hohner Contemporary from Karlsruhe, made of 600 Iraqi-made bird cages, is also causing a stir, a symbol of freedom for all those who have escaped from their shelter or cages.

The imminent generational change in the management of Art Karlsruhe offers the opportunity to rethink concepts or to take new directions. The fact that changes are due is obvious when walking through the fair: This huge, four-hall Villa Kunterbunt needs to be tidied up, say critical exhibitors, who want to say that the number of participants could be reduced, the selection could be handled more strictly. Because with the motto "something for everyone", you risk the lack of high quality in the long run if there is a surplus of mediocrity.

Have a taste-forming effect

Albert Baumgarten from Freiburg puts it in a nutshell at his stand, where Friedemann Hahn's remarkable large-format "Ernst Ludwig Kirchner with Two Figures" hangs (175,000): "We not only have the task of selling art, but also the task of having a taste-forming effect, but we are undermining this with this oversupply of tuttifrutti." What is meant is too much arbitrariness, too much epigonality. For example, one repeatedly encounters sculptures that are "inspired" by Stephan Balkenhol's wooden figures. But there is also the role model that Balkenhol's "Little Man" in a red shirt would be available for 110,000 euros at Schwarzer from Düsseldorf.

Samuelis Baumgarte (Bielefeld) is back at the fair after ten years, bringing with him a "White Field of Nails" by Günther Uecker (1.485 million). Such quieter abstractions are worth attention, such as Willi Baumeister's humorous "Dialogue" of two ciphers, which Rudolf (Kampen) offers for around 100,000 euros. Karl Hofer's delicate "Portrait of a Girl" from 1944 (195,000) by Ludorff stands for the figurative art of earlier times; in ours she has a worthy representative in Cornelia Schleime, who is represented on many stands as this year's winner of the Hans Platschek Prize, at Ludorff with the large format "Girl with Dog" (32,000).

If you appreciate works on paper, take a look at Lamiel's collages at Samagra (Paris). From faded textiles, the Frenchwoman creates small Maghreb travel memories (around 3700). Paper also plays the leading role in Várfok Galéria from Budapest. It features drawings by Françoise Gilot, including "Claude as Winner and Paloma I" from 1951 ($140,000). Pablo Picasso, the father of these two children, can be found with lithographs right next to him at the stand of the Spanish gallery Rodrigo Juarranz. Works on paper of classical modernism are reliably provided by Thole Rotermund from Hamburg; August Macke's "Nude on a Red Cloth", an unusually large mixed technique on wove paper that has already been reserved twice, is juxtaposed by the gallery owner with small works by the artist.

One encounters many photorealistic paintings, but few photographs. Exceptions are the impressions from all over the world captured by Beat Wissner in classic black-and-white photographs by STP and large-format inkjet prints from Tessa Verder's series "New Europeans" on the subject of migration by Martin Mertens (6000 each). Technological innovations still play a minor role at this fair in Karlsruhe, the city that is, after all, Germany's first Unesco City of Media Arts. Lars Theuerkauff can call himself a pioneer here, showing images produced with the help of AI at Tammen (Berlin): a fascinating series based on photographic portraits of Tilda Swinton and Lucian Freud's painting technique (2900 each).

View of France and Switzerland

The future course of Art Karlsruhe will be determined by a dual leadership. In addition to Olga Blaß, who has been project manager of the trade fair since 2017, Kristian Jarmuschek will be active. The Berlin gallery owner, chairman of the Federal Association of Galleries, founder of Paper Positions and the Positions Berlin Art Fair, takes over the chairmanship of the external advisory board. In the interview, he mentions the desire to expand the radius of impact of the trade fair, which is strategically located halfway between Basel and Cologne, especially in the direction of France and Switzerland. In addition, Jarmuschek can imagine strengthening the Department of Classical Modernism. As far as tidying up is concerned, he's keeping a low profile for now.

Art Karlsruhe, Messe Karlsruhe, until 7 May, admission 23 euros